The offense might be carrying the Seattle Mariners during their current seven-game winning streak, but their rotation is extremely impressive as well.
Right-hander George Kirby is a big part of the unit.
He also has a refreshing approach that differs from what we usually see in pitchers these days: he throws strikes.
A lot of them.
While most pitchers (even some of his teammates) have control or command issues that stem from throwing the ball as hard as they can with each pitch, Kirby consistently pounds the strike zone.
It’s what makes him special.
This strike-throwing ability puts him in a position to get a fair amount of strikeouts.
What’s really impressive about his statistical profile is the absurdly low number of walks.
With that being said, his ability to suppress walks and strike people out gives him a modern-era record for players of his age group.
George Kirby is a strike-machine ?@Mariners | #SeaUsRise pic.twitter.com/FGxphv3PQ9
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) August 22, 2023
According to MLB Network, Kirby has the highest single-season K/BB rate among players who are 25 or younger in the modern era (since 1900).
That’s incredible impressive.
For every walk he issues, the young righty strikes out 9.50 hitters, more than 2004 Ben Sheets, 2019 Shane Bieber, and 1913 Walter Johnson.
Wow.
He has given up just 14 walks all season, in 150.2 frames.
Always being in the strike zone hasn’t hurt him one bit: to the contrary, he has an excellent 3.23 ERA.
Kirby is one of the best pitchers in baseball already, and he has the potential to be even better.
Command is his calling card, as it is as good as it comes among MLB starters.
NEXT: Ken Rosenthal Discusses The Greatness Of Julio Rodriguez
